February 6, 2008
Dear Coalition
Friends:
1. Tomorrow's
meeting of the National
Capital Planning Commission opens at 12:45 p.m. with an informational presentation (no testimony taken) on
the new FEMA Floodplain Maps and proposed improvements to the National Mall Levee. The NCPC expressed alarm at its
last meeting because the maps show a large part of the Mall and Downtown DC in
the 100-year flood plain. See the article in The Washington Post from January 24, 2008.
Other items on NCPC's
agenda include review of the proposed Waterfront Park at The Yards at Southeast
Federal Center and an informational presentation on the CapitalSpace Initiative
for DC's public parks and park system (excluding the Mall). See the
agenda and contact information here.
2. It seems we
have more to worry about when it comes to security on the Mall than the
proliferation of ugly security barriers around our national
monuments. Here's the story from the front page of last Sunday's Washington Post , plus another article and a letter to the editor
the next day.
Widespread
Flaws Put U.S. Landmarks At Risk, Report Says
By Michael E. Ruane
Washington Post Staff
Writer
Monday, February 4,
2008; A01
The U.S. Park Police
have failed to adequately protect such national landmarks as the Statue of
Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument and are plagued by
low morale, poor leadership and bad organization, according to a new government
report.
The force is
understaffed, insufficiently trained and woefully equipped, the report by the
Interior Department's inspector general concludes. Hallowed sites on the Mall
are weakly guarded and vulnerable to terrorist attack, the inspector general's
office found....
By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff
Writer
Tuesday, February 5,
2008; B02
The Fraternal Order of
Police appealed yesterday for management changes and a bigger budget for the
U.S. Park Police, saying the agency that protects the nation's monuments is a
"mess."
"We'll keep
floundering in this mess until somebody steps in and helps us," said Jim
Austin, chairman of the union labor committee that represents Park Police
officers. "We're at a critical point."...
Letters to the
Editor
Tuesday, February 5,
2008; Page A18
So the former chief of
the U.S. Park Police, Teresa C. Chambers, was fired in 2004 for warning of
problems with staffing and security, and now, four years later, we have a
front-page, above-the-fold story confirming her warnings ["Park Police
Rebuked for Weak Security," Feb. 4].
Tell me again, why was
Ms. Chambers fired, and why is Dwight E. Pettiford in charge of the Park
Police?
BARBARA SYKES
Lanham
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